U.S. patent number 4,050,180 [Application Number 05/713,116] was granted by the patent office on 1977-09-27 for downrigger reel and temperature indicator.
Invention is credited to Jack C. King.
United States Patent |
4,050,180 |
King |
September 27, 1977 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Downrigger reel and temperature indicator
Abstract
An improved temperature and depth indicating downrigger reel in
which the reel drum provides a nest between the spokes for thermal
electronic indicator apparatus and in which the cable forms the
conductor element to a thermal sensor element adjacent the end
thereof. A calibrated gage supported in a two-piece housing
provides electrometric read-out from between the spokes of the
cable carrying drum and one end of the cable is attached to the
gage. Power for operation of the thermometric read-out gage is
contained in the drum in the two-piece case and at or adjacent the
gage. A friction wedge lock is provided which acts between the
flanges of the drum to selectively limit pay out of cable.
Simultaneous depth read-out is provided by a counter indicator
showing the amount of cable payed out and being an indicator of
depth. Continuous read-out of temperatures is provided.
Inventors: |
King; Jack C. (North Muskegon,
MI) |
Family
ID: |
24864800 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/713,116 |
Filed: |
August 10, 1976 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
43/27.4; 43/4;
242/396.9; 242/404; D22/139; 242/397.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K
91/08 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01K
91/08 (20060101); A01K 91/00 (20060101); A01K
089/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;43/27.4,4 ;242/106 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Kinsey; Russell R.
Assistant Examiner: Leach; Daniel J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Miller, Morriss and Pappas
Claims
I claim:
1. A downrigger structure for spoke wheeled downriggers
comprising:
a downrigger reel having spokes and flanges;
a segment shaped two-piece case with flanges thereon; said case
flanges engageable with the spokes and flange of said downrigger
reel and said case nesting between adjacent spokes;
an electronic circuit in said case;
a battery inside said case and operably connected to said
circuit;
a selectively operable switch in said case selectively permitting
flow of power to said circuit;
a cable encased in an outer resin sheath and including plural
unsheathed load bearing strands and one highly conductive copper
strand which is resin coated, said cable operably connected at one
end to said circuit;
a thermal sensing element operably connected at the other end of
said cable; and
a calibrated gage connected to said circuit whereby conductometric
variances proportional to thermal variances in said sensor give a
proportional read-out of thermal conditions at said sensor.
2. A temperature and depth indicator downrigger structure
comprising:
a spoked drum selectively operable for rotation on its axis and
having a radial opening therein:
a cable wound on said drum and one end thereof extending through
said radial opening in said drum, said cable including an outer
resin coating, a plurality of strands of load bearing material and
a strand of highly conductive resin coated material;
a two-piece flanged case disposed between a pair of spokes of said
drum and into which case said cable extends;
an electronic circuit and an electrometric gage inside of said case
interconnected to said strand of highly conductive material and
said plural strands of load bearing material;
a calibrated counter drivably connected to said cable and operable
as said is extended and retracted; and
a thermistor adjacent the outer terminal end of the said cable and
electrically connected to said circuit by connection to said highly
conductive strand and to said plural load bearing strands.
3. A downrigger reel and temperature indicator comprising:
a rod supported drum, said drum having spokes;
a coated cable on said drum, said cable comprising plural strands
of load bearing material and one coated strand of a highly
conductive metal;
a counter over which said cable passes;
a flanged gage case and battery support enclosure including an
electronic circuit powered by a battery in said case in accord with
the closure of a switch in said circuit, and said circuit directly
connected to said load bearing cable and to said conductive metal
strand; and
a thermal sensor element operably connected to said highly
conductive strand of metal and to said load bearing strands of
metal at the end opposite from connection to said electronic
circuit.
4. The downrigger reel and temperature indicator of claim 3 where
said load bearing strands are stainless steel and said highly
conductive and insulated strand is a copper alloy.
5. The downrigger reel and temperature indicator of claim 3 wherein
said load bearing strands of cable extend beyond said sensor and
return to said sensor thus forming a connecting loop below said
sensor.
6. In the downrigger structure of claim 3 wherein said sensor is
fully encapsulated by a potting resin and said load bearing strands
for a connecting loop which depends therebelow.
7. An improved temperature sensing and depth indicating downrigger
reel comprising:
a rod supported drum;
a plurality of spokes on said drum;
a two-piece flanged case between two of said spokes and said flange
of said case bearing against said spokes on both sides thereof;
a gage inside said case and visible from one side of said drum;
an electronic circuit within said case and connected to said
gage;
a battery in said case and operably connected to said circuit, said
battery accessible through said case;
a switch normally interrupting said circuit and selectively closed
from outside said case;
a cable having plural load bearing strands and a coated highly
conductive strand in an outer protective resin wrapper and having
one end connected to said electronic circuit and the other end
extendable from said drum;
a thermistor operably connected at said other end of said cable and
said load bearing strands of said cable forming an eye below said
sensor;
a wedge-like friction brake selectively pivotal into braking
relation between flanges of said drum;
a calibrated counter activated by withdrawal of said cable from
said drum;
a swivel support for said counter; and
a sheave depending from said swivel in a plane substantially and
normally parallel to the plane of said drum and said cable passing
over said sheave and fed from beneath said drum.
8. In the combination of claim 7 in which a socket connector
orients a rod-like frame in support of said drum and said brake
pivotally depends from said socket connector for tilting toward and
away from frictional engagement between the flanges of said
drum.
9. In the combination of claim 7 where said drum and said sheave
are fabricated from a tough corrosion resistant resin.
Description
The present invention is a new and improved thermometric readout
downrigger reel for fishing which is self powered (as opposed to
using electric power generated by the boat engines) and which uses
a single plural stranded cable with an interwoven copper insulated
strand as the conductor structure and which avoids completely the
necessity or advisability of slip rings. This is achieved by
nesting the gage structure in the drum between the spokes and
coupling the gage to the read-out end of the conductor cable having
the interwoven isolated copper strand. In fishing use the cable is
connected to a weight in a conventional manner and a thermistor is
terminally connected to the cable above the connection with the
weight so that the remotely read temperature condition is of the
water at the approximate trolling depth at selected trolling speed.
Factors influencing actual depth include the amount of weight, the
speed of the trolling vessel and water current in respect to
trolling direction.
In deep trolling a rather substantial reel called a "downrigger
reel" is provided and is usually attached to the fishing boat to
control the selected lowering and lifting of a trolling weight. The
trolling weight, dependent on boat and current speed, is suspended
from a cable and the cable is wound up on or lowered from the drum
or reel. The actuation of the reel may be manual as by winding
handles or the reel may be power activated electrically,
hydraulically or pneumatically, as desired. Two variables are
required in order to maximize the employment of a downrigger. One
should know the apparent depth of water (by amount of cable
released) and the temperature of the water at that depth. Both
pieces of information are readily available in the downrigger reel
structure herein described.
PRIOR ART DISCUSSION
In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,058 a downrigger reel filling all of the
requirements except thermal read-out and friction braking is
described. In the present structure, the improvements comprise the
integration of a thermometric circuit, read-out gage, and cable
coupling. The cable is a standard plural component structure in
which one strand is a copper wire coated over its entire length
with a thin but durable insulation so that only a single cable is
wound on the drum. The other strands of the cable are load bearing
strands. The load bearing portion of the cable provides one lead
and the single insulated strand in the cable provides the other
lead.
Aside from my own patent, the prior art is represented well by
considering remote control thermocouples generally and the devices
used in boreholes such as seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,316,942 to
Henri-Georges Doll and the newer high speed thermometers as shown
by the U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,482 to Frank K. Bennett. In these
devices a thermally sensitive resistor (sometimes called a
thermistor) is utilized in an electric circuit usually as one
resistance leg in a Wheatstone Bridge and an electrometric gage
(for example, a galvanometer) or ammeter is calibrated to indicate
in the circuit the change in resistance in the temperature
sensitive thermistor element and the change in resistance is
relayed directly to the temperature at the thermistor. Thus,
electrometric read-out has provided simple means for remotely
obtaining a temperature reading where the thermally sensitive
element is remotely located. In general, in all of the early remote
sensing devices, two electric leads run from the read-out gage and
circuit to and return from the thermistor. These remote sensing
concepts received expression in the fishing field by the inclusion
of thermometric means located "at the lure" in U.S. Pat. No.
3,031,788 to Melvin L. Shannon. The device of Shannon included
slip-rings attached to the shaft of a fishing reel so as to allow
read-out from the electrical leads embodied in the fishing line and
extending to the lure. A thermistor was provided on the terminal
end of the fishing line and was coupled by leader to the lure. This
construction was objectionable because the tackle (fishing line)
was generally stiff and a special fishing line was required and
described. In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,274 to Charles P. Wojahn the
prior art was extended to downriggers or weight lines dropped from
a boat and to which the tackle or fishing line was separately
connected until a strike or other disengagement of the lure.
Theoretically, the Wojahn structure provided a thermal readout at
lure depth. Actually the read-out was at the weight. The invention
was directed to the ballast or weight structure. The disclosure in
Wojahn includes a downrigger reel with the indicating system within
the reel and with the two conducting wires woven into the
cable.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
As will be seen, the present invention is directed to a new and
inventive combination of open spoked and friction braked drum and
between the spokes of which drum is inserted a read-out structure
in an especially compact and transistorized arrangement and in
which there is provided special cable in which the load bearing
strands of the cable provide one of two conductors. This, as will
be appreciated, results in a single apparent cable coupled to the
thermistor and in turn connected to the weight and in avoidance of
slip rings and strained connections at the drum end of the cable.
The cable provides stainless steel, Monel metal, or load carrying
strands of other material as one electrical lead and a single
interwoven and insulated copper wire provides the other electrical
lead.
Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to
provide a new and improved downrigger reel by nesting thermal
indicating apparatus between the spokes of the drum, for continuous
read-out.
Another object is to provide a downrigger reel structure having
temperature read-out without slip-rings and a reel in which
available depth read-out or cable pay out is available.
Another object is to provide a downrigger reel in which the drum is
selectively stopped by a friction brake operating as a wedge
between the flanges of the drum.
Still another object is to provide a downrigger termperature
readout structure having an integrated cable and conductor
combination so that cable stress does not interfere with read-out
for function and the stainless steel cable strands are easily
connected to the electronic and read-out components.
Other objects include the provision of compact, self powered
read-out means for depth and temperature which are economical and
simple to construct and maintain and which are durable under stress
of heavy fishing conditions.
Still other objects will be appreciated by those skilled in the art
as the description proceeds.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In general, the present invention is a downrigger reel having
remote temperature sensing capabilities and in which the thermal
read-out apparatus is nested between the spokes of the drum and is
directly coupled to the load carrying strands of the cable and to
an isolated conductive strand of highly conductive material
contained in the complete integrated cable structure. The reel as
used for downrigger fishing is detachably mounted to a deck plate
and the deck plate may be secured to a boat or rail thereof.
Stanchions which are a part of the base support a pair of rod-like
arms and the arms extend vertically and are bent forwardly in
spaced parallel relation to a connection with a socketed connector.
The same connector incudes a socket into which is secured a center
rod extension. The connector also provides a connection means for
keeping the friction brake in depending relation until needed. On
the outer end of the rod is a swivel rotatable on the axis of the
rod and being bifurcated and forming depending legs. The legs
support a sheave or pulley on a shaft. The shaft is connected by a
resilient belt member to a counter structure riding on top of the
swivel.
The rod-like arms have, attached at the bends as by welding, a pair
of spaced-apart aligned sleeves or bearings. A handled crank is
supported in the bearings and the handles are shaft extensions
which support the spoked reel or drum operable between the
spaced-apart arms. The drum contains cable and the cable is
utilized as a conductor and is connected at one end to the
temperature indicator and circuit between the spokes of the drum.
The other end of the cable is operably connected to a thermistor or
temperature sensitive resistor. One of the strands of the cable is
isolated from the load carrying strands of the cable and provides
the second conductor between thermistor and read-out gage and
circuit. The thermistor allows the load bearing strands to extend
and form a coupler allowing the cable to be selectively secured to
a suitable weight or cannonball in avoidance of direct strain at
the thermistor connection. The cannonball includes slip connector
means allowing the fishing line with the lure to be clamped
thereon. Release of the fishing line occurs when a fish takes the
lure and jerks or slips the line from the slip connector. When a
snag of the lure occurs a similar result obtains. The socketed
connector which supports the outboard ends of the rodarms and the
central rod extension includes a pivoted lever. The lever has a
wedge-like end which fits between the flanges of the drum in a
jamming manner. The length of the lever exceeds the distance
between the brake pivot and the drum periphery. By pivoting the
lever into wedging engagement with the drum during paying out of
cable, the drum is easily and smoothly braked while providing a
limited degree of slip. Rewind frees the brake by relief of the
frictional jamming. The temperature condition at the approximate
lure depth is ascertainable by read-out on the gage measuring
resistance of the thermistor or other related electrometric indicia
and the downrigger and the apparent length of cable and depth of
the lure are both easily determinable by reading the counter
provided on the end of the rod at the swivel. The swivel on the end
of the rod supports the sheave over which the cable passes and
provides a perfect directional shifting as the boat is turned so
that the cable is subjected to minimal strain and (barring slack in
the weight line) prevents the cable from jumping off the sleave or
pulley. This also allows a deeper groove pulley to be used which
assists in prevention of the cable from leaving the pulley. The
continuous read-out can be turned on and left on while fishing to
provide a continuous temperature monitor.
In operation the present downrigger reel is a distinct improvement
over prior reels and provides unique electrical conduction to the
thermistor and exploits an electronic circuit using minimum power
so that small power DC batteries are adequate for use over
relatively long periods of usage. The use of the temperature gage
is selective and is activated only as required but provides
continuous read-out until switched off. The friction brake allows
controlled slippage in prevention of damage to the drum or loss of
line and weight in hang-up situations. by reason of utilizing the
load carrying cable strands as one of the conductors, the single
copper strand is more fully protected against differential
stressing. Chafing disconnections and strain damage to the circuit
as occurred in earlier known movable thermal sensing devices is
avoided.
IN THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the spoke drum downrigger reel of
the present invention in which a temperature gage is provided
nested between two of the spokes and a depth read-out is provided
at the rod end and a fishing reel, rod and tackle are separately
used but where the line to the lure is connected releasably to the
downrigger weight.
FIG. 1A is an enlarged view of the thermistor capsule connected to
the cable and conductor adjacent the cable connection to the weight
and protected from damage by the resin encapsulating capsule.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the read-out structure
and circuit board as it is assembled in its housing and to sandwich
the reel therebetween and located between a pair of adjacent reel
spokes.
FIG. 3 is a perspective assembled view from the side of the
thermometric read-out structure opposite the gage face and showing
the battery insertion panel and the read-out push button on-off
switch.
FIG. 4 is a partial elevation view through the reel and cut away to
indicate the location of connector leads through the drum for
access to the electronic printed circuit board.
FIG. 5 is a section view through the read-out case and relating the
suspension of the principal elements between the drum flanges and
the spokes.
FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the printed circuit boards.
Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the printed circuit of FIG. 6 and
indicating the conducting lines on the bottom face. This is
oriented in the same sense as FIG. 6 for clarity and is necessarily
somewhat schematic since it is not a bottom plan view, but a top
plan view indicating the bottom portion as if the board was
transparent.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the electronic circuit.
FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the gage face side of the case.
FIG. 10 is an end elevation view of the gage face side of the case
seen in FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 is a front elevation view sectioned on the line 11--11 of
FIG. 9 to indicate the internal construction of the gate face side
of the case.
FIG. 12 is the mating opposite half of the case of FIG. 9 and
indicating input leads and battery cavity.
FIG. 13 is a side elevation view of FIG. 12 and cut away on the
line 13--13 of FIG. 12 to clarify the battery cavity.
FIG. 14 is a front elevation view of the structure of FIG. 12 cut
away on the section lines 14--14 of FIG. 12 to show the lead
slots.
FIG. 15 indicates the cable construction at the lead connection end
to the printed circuit and indicating the manner in which the
stainless steel or load conducting strands are crimped to a copper
lead at the end to facilitate a solder connection at the circuit
board.
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
Referring to the drawings and first to the FIG. 1 thereof, a full
appreciation of the use setting of the downrigger reel 11 is best
appreciated. The downrigger reel structure 11 is secured to the
vessel or boat by insertion in the connector channel 12 as shown.
The channel 12 is selectively fastened as by screws or bolts to the
boat. The base 13 which is held by the channel 12 includes a pair
of spaced-apart stanchions 14 which are socketed to receive the rod
frame elements 15. The rod frame elements 15 rise from the
stanchions 14 vertically in spaced interval and then bend at bends
16 outwardly and upwardly as shown. Nested in the bends 16 and
welded there are a pair of aligned sleeve bearings 17. The sleeve
bearings 17 support the shaft 18 which is a horizontal extension of
the crank arms 19 which extend on both sides of the downrigger reel
and are keyed or fixed to the drum 20 and form the axis of the drum
20. This provides a two-handled crank for operation of the drum 20.
When the drum 20 is powered the shaft 18 is drivably and reversably
connected to a transmission and power source. The forward ends 21
of the rod frame elements 15 are secured in fixed relation within
sleeves 22 formed by the clamping together of the two shell
elements 23 and 24 to form a connector. Together the shell elements
23 and 24 define two sleeves and control parallel sleeve 25. The
two shells 23 and 24 are clamped together as by fasteners 26 and
the shell 24 includes a depending clevis portion 27 which pivotally
supports the lever-like brake arm 28 so that the wedged end portion
29 can be frictionally engaged with the drum 20 between the flanges
30 thereof and in an over-center manner the wedge blocks further
withdrawal of cable 31 therefrom. A calculated slippage prevents
absolute jamming since the flanges 30, under overstress, allow
slippage. The cable 31, as will be seen, comprises an outer resin
insulating coat, a group of load bearing metal strands, and a
single insulated piece of wire stranded with the cable strands. A
rod arm 32 is supported in the central sleeve 25 of the
sandwich-like frame connector 32a formed by elements 23 and 24. The
arm 32 extends to suit requirements of stiffness or resiliency to
the swivel 33 which is positioned on the extended end of the rod
arm 32 and is axially rotatable thereon. A clevis portion 34 of the
swivel 33 provides a platform mounting 35 for the counter 36 and
the arms 37 of the clevis portion 34 operably support the sheave or
pulley 38 on shaft 39. A pair of drive pulleys 40 and 41 are
interconnected by a spring band or belt 42. The pulley 40 turns
with the sheave 38 and by means of the band 42 drives the pulley 41
and thence the counter 36. By adjusting and calibrating sheave 38
and pulleys 40 and 41 appropriate lineal read-out is possible at
the counter 36. The rigging is as shown in the FIG. 1 with the
cable 31 paying off the drum 20 with counterclockwise action of the
drum (as viewed) and then the cable 31 passes under and
substantially parallel to the rod arm 32 and over the sheave 38
depended by the swivel 33 beneath the arm 32. This arrangement
assures that severe turns of the boat will not tend to cause
unusual wear on the sheave 38 and will prevent tendencies in the
cable 31 of leaving the sheave 38 because the swivelling will
follow the trailing cable 31 as the relative direction of the boat
or vessel changes. The cable 31 extends downwardly to a point above
the connection to the weight 43 where the cable 31 is connected to
a thermistor 44 at the load bearing strands and at the copper or
high conductivity strand (see FIG. 1A). Then a resin sleeve or pot
45 is cast around thermistor so that the load bearing strands 46 of
the cable 31 pass through the pot 45 and form a loop or eye 47
permitting easy attachment to the disconnect ring 48 of the weight
43. This isolates the resistance element 44 from the tension
stresses in the load bearing strands and isolates the highly
conductive strand from stress.
A tension release clip 49 is also operably connected to the weight
43 and the leader or fishing line 50 is selectively clipped into
position to trail the lure or bait 51 as desired. The fishing line
50 runs up to the fishing reel 52 mounted on a fishing rod 53 held
by the fisherman in the process of landing a fish. In downrigger
fishing a "strike" by a fish results in the fishing line 50 being
freed from the weight 43 and then playing and landing is
accomplished via the fishing rod 53, reel 52 and line 50. The
function of the weight 43 was to position the lure 51 at a selected
level approximating the location of the weight. The weight 43 is
then reeled back into the boat and a new connection of fishing line
50 is achieved.
The downrigger 11 is provided with a gage 60 in an instrument case
61 positioned between adjacent spokes 62 and within the thickness
of the drum 30. As will be seen, the gage 60 provides an
electrometric read-out of the thermal condition at the thermistor
44. The circuit structure is transistorized and miniaturized to
require minimum weight and space and to require minimum electrical
current. Small 9-volt transistor type DC batteries provide
instantaneous service with long life in accordance with use. As
will be seen, a closing of a simple push button on-off switch
provides a direct continuous reading and selective disconnect for
the DC power. The instrument case 61 is made in mating parts to
sandwich the spokes 62 therebetween and so as to fit between the
planes of the drum flanges 30.
The swivel 33, clevis parts 34, drum 20, connector 32, sheave 38,
brake bar 28, instrument case 61 and handle grips on the handles 19
may be made of high impact non-corrosive and thermally durable
resin such as "Delrin," a resin product of E. I. DuPont de Nemours
and Company.
In FIG. 2 the compact construction of the instrument case 61 is
best appreciated. The case 61 comprises a pair of mating flanged
shells 70 and 71 that fit between the spokes 62 and the drum
flanges 30. The gage side 70 of the case 61 includes a central
opening 72 into which a sight glass or lens 73 is pressed so as to
provide visual access to the electrometric readout gage 60
positioned in the opening 72. The battery side 71 of the case 61
provides a walled cavity 74 into which the battery 75 is positioned
and fastened by means of the cover plate 76 and fasteners 77. The
electrical poles 78 of the battery 75 make electrical contact on
closing with suitable lead elements connected to the printed
circuit 79 on circuit board 80 and in contact with the electronic
components 81 and, on assembly, to the gage 60. The fasteners 82
and 83 close the assembly as seen in FIG. 3 and closure is achieved
between the spokes 62 so that the flanges 84 and 85 grip and hold
the case 61 against dislodgement. The operating button on-off
switch 86 is visible in the FIG. 3 as is the cover 76 which closes
in the batteries 75. The slot 88 provided in the case shell 71
allows the entry of the cable 31 into the case 61 and connection to
the circuit. Corresponding opening 89 is provided through the
cylindrical floor 90 of drum 20 (FIG. 4).
Since the connection of the cable 31, electrically to the circuit,
is by stainless steel, Monel metal or like load bearing on one side
and copper on the other, the advised procedure for connection is
best seen in FIG. 15. The cable 31 is preferably coated with a
smooth outer resin 91 which is pliant and durable. Inside the resin
sheath 91 is the cluster of wound metal strands 92. One of these
metal strands 93 is insulated or coated by coat 94 and is otherwise
stranded with the other metal strands. The strand 93 is usually an
excellent conductor such as an alloyed copper and it is very simply
disengaged and soldered or otherwise connected to the circuit
board. The stainless steel and/or Monel strands resist soldering or
simple electrical connection and are therefore crimped into a brass
ferrule 95 or sleeve with a copper wire extension 95' which is then
easily provided with conventional connectors or is soldered in
place in the circuit as desired. A similar connection may be
employed at the thermistor 44.
FIG. 5 is a full section view through the case 61 and showing the
assembled relation of the flanged case elements 70 and 71 and the
components of printed circuit 79, battery 75 and closure 76 and
glass 73.
FIG. 6 shows the printed circuit 79 insofar as it connects with
electronic components 81. The actual board 80 is suitably pierced
for the fasteners and for receiving the electronic components and
lead connections as shown. FIG. 7 indicates the printed portion of
the circuit board 79 and 80.
In FIG. 8 is a somewhat schematic diagram of the electronic circuit
in which the Wheatstone bridge analogy is obvious and the gage 61
is interposed as a visible electrometric read-out when the push
button 86 activates the circuitry. The variable potentiometer 96
provides calibrating and trim means and the sensor resistance 44 is
appreciated as remote from the read-out means.
FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 indicate the construction of the shell 70 on the
gage side of the case 61. The single casting has the central
opening 72, the perimeter flange 84 and the boss 97 against which
the glass 73 is pressed. Means are provided in the form of posts
98, blind on the outer face, to accommodate self-tapping fasteners.
Injection molded, this part is produced in mass quantities with
high precision.
FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 show the construction of the mating and
opposite shell 71 in which the printed circuit 79 and battery 75
are contained. The posts 99 are provided with through openings to
accommodate fasteners 83 and the flush mounting of the closure 76
on the shoulder 100 is best appreciated. The opening 88 allows
leading-in of the cable 31 radially from through the drum 20.
Preferably shell 71 is operation injection molded too.
The downrigger element described provides improved downrigging
performance and brings economical temperature sensing means to the
fishing industry. By utilizing for the first time the load bearing
cable elements for electromounting connection with a single
interwoven conduction wire, a much more durable and lasting
construction is provided which can stand the rigors of continuous
and repetitive use in severe exposure to the weather elements and
to shock strain. Available with the temperature is information
reflecting the pay-out of cable and from which an approximation of
relative depth can be made. Specific fastening means may include
gasketing and sealing and a variety of construction details may be
substituted in fastening and the like. While a manual drive unit
has been illustrated, a power drive may also be integrated for
raising and lowering the cable without departure from the spirit of
this invention. New flexibility has been added in the wedge brake
structure. The power source is self contained, is easily
replaceable or renewed and is wholly independent of the power
available in the boat or vessel.
Having thus described my invention, those skilled in the art will
readily perceive modifications, changes and improvements and all
such modifications, changes and improvements are intended to be
included herein, limited only by the scope of my hereinafter
appended claims.
* * * * *